Since the start of summer workouts on June 10, Bessemer City football coaches and players have talked about their goal of winning a conference championship.

The Yellow Jackets have put themselves in position to do just that through two Southern Piedmont 1A Conference games. And now they’ve arrived at a critical game that could go a long way toward their goal as Bessemer City hosts Thomas Jefferson on Friday.

Bessemer City (4-4 overall) is the only SPC team with a 2-0 league record while Thomas Jefferson (6-2 overall) is one of four teams tied for second in the SPC at 1-1.

“It’s a big one,” Bessemer City coach Larry Boone said. “We’ve been preaching all week it was one of our goals to compete for a championship. The past two weeks we’ve played pretty good ball. We’re starting to play good ball.”

Thomas Jefferson has already picked up a key SPC victory by beating Cherryville 20-14 two weeks ago. But the Gryphons last week suffered a 9-7 defeat at the hands of Community School of Davidson, a team Bessemer City defeated 38-30 a week before.

Boone said his team needs to contain Thomas Jefferson quarterback Mason Martin, who has passed for 986 yards and nine touchdowns, and receiver Efrim Borders, who has caught 28 passes for 517 yards and five touchdowns. Bessemer City is so focused on Borders that a scout team member has worn a No. 7 jersey representing Borders all week.

Thomas Jefferson will likely focus its defensive efforts on Bessemer City running back Cedric Mackey, who has been especially productive as of late. The 5-foot-5, 175-pound junior has rushed for 364 yards and four touchdowns in the two conference games and reached the four-figure milestone last week, giving him 1,009 yards for the season.

“He’s just a bowling ball,” Boone said. “He’s short. He’s strong. He doesn’t go down on the first hit. Luckily — knock on wood — he hasn’t been hurt. Those five to six guys up front have done a good job lately to get him where he’s at.”

Linebacker Kendall Huss leads Bessemer City in tackles with 66 (8.3 per game) and in tackles for loss (12). He’s also tallied four sacks — and he’s played lately with a broken hand.

The 6-foot, 205-pound senior broke his hand in practice the week of the first conference game against Community School of Davidson. With a padded cast, Huss not only played in the next game but recorded nine tackles (three for loss), stopped a two-point conversion in the fourth quarter to keep Bessemer City ahead 31-30, and intercepted a pass with less than a minute to go to seal the win.

“(The cast) limits him a little bit holding on, but it’s not going to stop his heart and his ability to get to the football,” Boone said. “He’s going to be around the ball no matter what.”

Bessemer City’s remaining games after this week are Nov. 1 at Highland Tech and Nov. 8 at home against Cherryville in a rematch of Bessemer City’s 26-20 non-conference win in August.

“We’ve been preparing,” Boone said. “We know what to expect this week and we know what’s on the line. We’re going to leave it all out on the field Friday night.”

Alumni night at BC: Bessemer City will celebrate all football alumni Friday prior to the Yellow Jackets’ home game against Thomas Jefferson. Any former Bessemer City football players who attend the game are invited to stand on the field during pregame warm-ups from 6:15 p.m. until kickoff at 7:30. For more information, contact athletic director Brandon Scott at 704-629-1940.